Silva says mayor needs more power

Monday

Jul 21, 2014 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Mayor Anthony Silva said Friday he was not criticizing anyone's efforts this week when he stated during a television interview that he would like to be "more involved" in the hiring of officers as the city works to increase the size of its undermanned police force.

Roger Phillips

STOCKTON - Mayor Anthony Silva said Friday he was not criticizing anyone's efforts this week when he stated during a television interview that he would like to be "more involved" in the hiring of officers as the city works to increase the size of its undermanned police force.

But Silva also stood by his long-held position that the mayor should have greater powers than granted by the city's governance structure and charter, though he stopped short of describing what those powers should be.

Silva made the comment about his desire for greater involvement in officer hiring during a Fox 40 interview Thursday, one day after the high-profile Bank of the West robbery and subsequent high-speed chase that resulted in the death of Misty Holt-Singh and injuries to two other hostages.

Asked about the television interview, Police Chief Eric Jones said, "I'm not really prepared to comment on that one. I don't know what he meant by it, I guess I should say. We haven't talked."

During an interview Friday with The Record, Silva said he wants to push for "local hires" and wants "at least one-half" of new officers to "be hired from the streets of Stockton." Jones and City Manager Kurt Wilson said the city already is making a concerted effort to diversify the force and hire locally. Wilson cited a line item in the 2014-15 budget that specifically allocates money to promote diversity in the police force, as well as the establishment of a City Council committee to study the matter and develop strategies.

The mayor mentioned Conway Homes and Sierra Vista as neighborhoods from which he would like to see police officers recruited.

Wilson said, "We have some legal barriers that prevent us from being so prescriptive as to say that in order to gain employment with the city, you must live in this neighborhood. There are some legal requirements we must follow as we go through this process."

Jones, meanwhile, said local hiring and greater diversity have "been our goal all along." He added, "We've made it known many times that our preference is to recruit locally grown applicants ... who better reflect our community."

Silva also said in the aftermath of Wednesday's tragedy that he would like Stockton to adopt a "strong-mayor" system of governance. During the television interview, he said, "It's really time for the residents to really chart their own path in the city, which means that the mayor runs the city."

Douglass Wilhoit, a former police officer and head of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, criticized Silva for broaching the topic so soon after Wednesday's tragedy.

"It reminds me of what you see coming out of Washington, D.C.," Wilhoit said. "Never let a good crisis go to waste. That's when an elected official needs to keep his mouth shut and not make it appear that he is trying to take advantage of a very tragic situation."

Silva, who is in his second year as mayor, has been making the call for more than a year to change the city's governance system, which gives equal policymaking powers to Silva and the other six members of the City Council.

"I feel like my hands are tied behind my back," Silva said. "Hundreds of people are calling and messaging. The mayor has to be more than a cheerleader in the city."

Silva declined to speculate when asked how his role during Wednesday's crisis might have been different if he'd had greater powers as mayor. Silva said that under the system he envisions, there would still be "a city manager running day-to-day operations, but basically, the buck stops with the mayor."

"At least the public can hold somebody truly accountable for what they like or don't like in a community," he added.

Any move to a strong-mayor system would require an amendment to the city charter, which would require putting an item on the ballot, though by law the soonest such a change could be decided by voters would be 2016. Silva will be running for re-election that year should he decide to seek a second term.

"I am familiar with his desire to have a strong mayor system," Wilson said. "He's been clear about that. ... As the city manager, my role isn't to determine which direction we should go."

Contact reporter Roger Phillips at (209) 546-8299 or rphillips@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/phillipsblog and on Twitter @rphillipsblog.